SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES
Master of Science in Physician Associate Studies
MSPA
Program Details
Start Term
Fall
Deadline
November 1 final
Program Details
Start Term
Fall
Deadline
November 1 final
Clinical Experiences
Gain rich clinical experiences across multiple specialties and settings in some of Southern California’s top medical facilities
Leadership Skills
Develop valuable leadership and entrepreneurial skills to create a unique career path ideal for you
Continuous Collaboration
Obtain a well-rounded perspective of medicine through collaboration with interdisciplinary teams, such as ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s pharmacy, genetics, occupational therapy, and medical device engineering programs
The Chan Family Master of Science in Physician Associate Studies degree program will prepare students to become integral members of the healthcare team and provide compassionate care for their communities. This 27-month program integrates leadership skills, innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to problem-solving, and interprofessional collaboration. MSPA program graduates develop a better understanding of the social determinants of health and patient-centered medicine, leaving fully prepared to play a leadership role in the community and public health.
About the Program
Innovative learning
Students benefit from an active learning classroom model that emphasizes engagement, critical thinking, and teamwork. Students also have access to early clinical experiences and real patient interactions that strengthen interpersonal, technical, and clinical reasoning skills before starting clinical rotations.
Community roots: providing compassionate care to diverse populations
Students will be heavily involved in the care and education of the local community. These volunteers provide students with an understanding of the community’s healthcare needs. Graduates will be prepared to provide compassionate care to patients of diverse ethnicity, race, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, and recognize health disparities and work towards achieving health equity.
Leadership and entrepreneurship
Students receive instruction in leadership and entrepreneurship in order to prepare them to take on leadership roles, be involved in advocacy, solve real-world problems, and create their own career path.
The mission of the Master of Science in Physician Associate Studies (MSPA) program at Keck Graduate Institute is to develop high quality physician associates (PAs) who are dedicated to advancing healthcare through leadership, commitment to their communities, and the compassionate care of all populations.
The Keck Graduate Institute MSPA program will redefine PA education through transformative teaching, rich clinical experiences, interprofessional collaboration, and leadership training. Our graduates will play an integral role in promoting health equity, shaping the future of healthcare in clinical, administrative, and academic roles.
- Recruit and matriculate a class of uniquely qualified students with varied backgrounds.
- Provide transformative, student-focused instruction to ensure the academic success of each of our students.
- Create a team-based environment within Keck Graduate Institute through interprofessional collaboration.
- Inculcate professional development through didactic instruction, engagement in advocacy efforts, and leadership opportunities.
- Encourage a strong dedication to serving the needs of all communities with compassion and sensitivity.
The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø MSPA program evaluates its effectiveness in meeting program goals utilizing various external and internal benchmarks developed during our continuous self-study process. The is updated annually.
The Chan Family Master of Science in Physician Associate Studies curriculum consists of 84 credit hours of didactic coursework and 40 credit hours of supervised clinical practice experiences in a variety of clinical settings. Students are required to complete all 124 credit hours for conferral of the MSPA degree. For more regarding the MSPA program curriculum including required didactic and clinical phase coursework, please see the PDF below.
Upon completion of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø MSPA program, students will have acquired the following program competencies and learning outcomes, which are required for successful entry into PA professional practice. The development of these program competencies and learning outcomes were guided by the AAPA’s Competencies for the Physician Associate Profession (revised in 2012), Association of American Medical Colleges’ Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency (2014), PAEA’s proposed entrustable activities for PA graduates (2017), and PAEA’s Core Competencies for New Physician Associate Graduates (2018). They were also organized to align with the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Associate (ARC-PA) definition of program competencies.
Medical Knowledge (MK)
PLO1 – Integrate social, behavioral, medical, and professional practice knowledge into the effective and equitable care of patients across a continuum of ages, populations, and conditions. (MK)
Interpersonal and Communication Skills (ICS)
PLO2 – Utilize advanced interpersonal and communication skills to interview and elicit a patient history with compassion and sensitivity. (ICS, PROF)
PLO3 – Develop individualized patient education and care recommendations to support patients and caregivers in making informed health decisions. (ICS, MK)
PLO4 – Demonstrate effective oral and written communication with members of the interprofessional healthcare team. (ICS, PROF)
Clinical and Technical Skills (CTS)
PLO5 – Apply clinical and technical skills to perform an appropriate, patient-centered physical examination and advanced clinical procedures. (CTS, MK)
Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Skills (CRPS)
PLO6 – Apply an evidence-based medicine approach to the evaluation and management of patients. (CRPS, MK)
PLO7 – Utilize advanced clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills to formulate a logical differential diagnosis. (CRPS, MK)
PLO8 – Evaluate a patient effectively through the proper selection and accurate interpretation of laboratory and diagnostic studies. (CRPS, MK)
PLO9 – Integrate findings from the patient history, physical exam, and diagnostic studies with consideration of social of determinants of health to develop a comprehensive, patient-centered management plan. (CRPS, MK)
Professional Behaviors (PROF)
PLO10 – Demonstrate professional behaviors consistent with the Keck Graduate Institute MSPA program professionalism expectations, including all interactions with patients, caregivers, and members of the interprofessional healthcare team (PROF, ICS)
95% pass rate
among the first MSPA cohort to graduate who took the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) on their first attempt.
What Can You Do With An MSPA Degree?
Your Master of Science in Physician Associate Studies degree offers the competencies and strategic-thinking skills needed to pursue roles in several areas of primary care, surgical specialties, emergency medicine, and many more areas. Explore the careers and salary information that many of our graduates continue into after obtaining their ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø MSPA degree.
Accreditation Status
The ARC-PA has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Keck Graduate Institute Physician Associate Program sponsored by Keck Graduate Institute.
Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.
Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class.
The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website at .
Successful MSPA Students at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø
Current students and alumni share how earning a MSPA degree at Keck Graduate Institute helped them discover their passion and purpose.
Kirill Lipa, '24 MSPA
Shares how Keck Graduate Institute helped him achieve his goal of becoming a physician associate
McKenna Schindler, '24 MSPA
Shares how Keck Graduate Institute helped her achieve her goal of becoming a physician associate
Inside Look at MSPA Program
Explore our MSPA classroom through your screen with 360 degree views.
Program Faculty and Staff
Program Requirements
The following courses are required for admission with a grade of C or better. All must be completed through a regionally or nationally accredited institution with a grade ‘C’ or higher within 10 years of the application deadline. Applicants are allowed to have up to two outstanding prerequisites (no more than 8 semester hours or 12 quarter hours total) at the time of application. However, all prerequisites must be satisfactorily completed by June 15 of the enrollment year:
- Human anatomy and physiology with lab (two courses)
- Microbiology
- Medical terminology
- General or inorganic chemistry with lab
- Organic or biochemistry
- Statistics
1,000 hours direct patient care experience completed in the past five years is required at the time of application. Examples of direct patient care experiences include:
- Paramedic
- Emergency medical technician
- Dietitian
- Respiratory therapist
- Radiological technician
- Medical assistant (back office hours only)
- Nurse (LPN, RN, MSN)
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Physical therapist
- Occupational therapist
- Surgical technician
- Clinical research assistant (only those hours spent interacting with and caring for patients directly)
- Medical scribe
- Pharmacist
- Phlebotomist
Unacceptable patient care experiences include: hours obtained in optometry, podiatry, veterinary, or dental settings; administrative roles in hospital or office settings; and those hours obtained as a lifeguard, aesthetician, in home care services, caregiving/taking, or in non-clinical research (i.e., laboratory setting only).
Hours obtained during volunteer, shadowing, or training programs are not counted towards patient care hours (e.g., certified nurse assistant, medical assistant, medical school, or PA school). Those hours attained after graduation are accepted, such as residency hours.
Direct patient care experience hours must be completed in the United States, U.S territories, or as part of U.S. organizations such as the military, peace corps, etc. Acceptance of U.S. organization-based patient care hours is at the discretion of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.
The program will determine which hours are counted towards the PCE based on what the applicant writes as a description of duties. If duties are unclear, the program reserves the right to determine how many hours will be accepted based on the description.
For a complete list of admissions requirements and procedures, please review the PDF document below.
View Admissions Requirements and ProceduresHow to Apply
- Completed online CASPA application, including the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø-specific supplemental application questions in CASPA.
- Minimum overall GPA of 3.0
- Minimum science GPA of 3.0
- 1,000 hours of paid, hands-on patient care experience
- 3 letters of recommendation (One letter must be from a healthcare provider who is a PA, Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), or Nurse Practitioner (NP). The second letter must come from one of three types of individuals: 1) a second healthcare reference that can be another provider or any other person who works with patients such as a Registered Nurse (RN), Respiratory Therapist (RT), etc.; 2) an academic reference from a professor with whom you took a course or an academic advisor from your college/university; or 3) a research reference from one of your supervisors/leads for a research project on which you had significant participation. The third letter is your choice. You may choose another one of the above or select another type of reference, such as from volunteer experiences. Please note that we will not accept any letters written by a personal friend, family friend, or relative. All three required letters must have been requested through CASPA at the time of application submission to CASPA and must be completed by your references no later than December 31 of the application year. We do not accept reference letters sent directly to our program.
- Admission interview (Online by invitation only)
Admitted students are required to submit two separate non-refundable deposits of $750 and $750 to hold their spot in the program.